1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to flush toilets which include a device for controlling odor, and more particularly to those flush toilets having an exhaust fan or blower as the odor control device, which blower removes odorous gases from within the toilet bowl.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of devices have been devised over the years for removing odorous air or gases from toilets, and from the space surrounding the toilet referred to as a water closet.
Deodorants
One approach to solving the odor removal problem around toilets, particularly in public or business establishments, is to place solid bars of deodorant within or adjacent the toilet. Alternatively, various misting devices have been developed which are mounted on the wall adjacent the toilet to periodically spray a mist of a deodorizing liquid into the air. While both the solid and the liquid deodorizers do help mask the undesirable odor, the odor is typically still detectable in the air even with strongly scented deodorants, and thus this approach is only marginally effective.
Ceiling Exhaust Fans
Another approach to solving the odor removal problem around toilets is to mount a suction blower in the ceiling of the room containing the toilet such as a bathroom. A wall mounted switch controls the suction blower to exhaust odorous gases present in the bathroom to the exterior of the building. This approach works to a degree, but has some serious shortcomings. For example, the odorous gases are allowed to circulate. throughout the air in the bathroom prior to being removed and exhausted. Therefore, the person using the toilet must smell the odorous gases in the air which can be quite unpleasant. Secondly, this approach necessitates removing most or all of the air from the bathroom to remove the odorous gases, which is a quantity of air at least equal to that contained in the bathroom, typically two to three times as much. The air contained in the bathroom is typically heated air in the winter, which must be replaced with more heated air causing an increase in the heating and/or electric bill. In the summer, this air might be cooled air such as in an air conditioned building, which air must be replaced with more cooled air causing an increase in the electric bill for air conditioning.
Toilets With Built-in Air Flow Devices
Electrically Powered Blowers: The more effective odor control systems remove odorous gases directly from the toilet bowl, which gases are exhausted to the sewer system down-stream of the water trap and siphon seal in the toilet bowl. One approach is to provide an electrically powered suction blower within the structure of the toilet. The odorous gases are withdrawn from the bowl by the suction blower through an intake port or manifold and suitable exhaust conduit. A one-way valve is typically positioned in the exhaust conduit to prevent the backflow of sewer gases into the toilet. The electric suction blower necessitates the availability of an electrical wall socket or another source of electricity. Examples of such toilets with built-in suction blowers which deposit the odorous gases into:the sewer pipe include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,073,275 issued to Klopocinski, and 4,103,370 issued to Arnold. In some odor control systems, the odorous gases are withdrawn from the toilet bowl, passed through a charcoal filter, and returned to the room with or without additional deodorizing. Such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,826 issued to Maurer.
Other Air Flow Devices: Toilets with built-in air flow devices other than electrically powered suction blowers have been designed. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,309,925 issued to Schotthoefer is disclosed a toilet having an air flow device which uses falling drops of water to produce a downdraft of air which draw away odorous gases from within the toilet bowl.
Toilets With Separate External Blower Systems
An alternative to having an electrically powered suction blower built into the structure of the toilet is to provide a separate external blower system. The odorous gases are withdrawn from the toilet bowl by the external suction blower through an intake port or manifold and suitable exhaust conduit. The odorous gases are typically exhausted back into the bathroom after an attempted deodorizing, or into a separate exhaust conduit leading outside the building. Examples of external blower systems for toilets include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,052,837 issued to Norton et al., and 5,875,497 issued to Lovejoy. Both of these patented devices use a special seat which includes an intake manifold for withdrawing the odorous gases from within the toilet. A problem with such external suction blower systems is that they exhaust the supposedly deodorized gases back into the bathroom. Such requires periodic replacement of deodorizer blocks or liquid deodorizer and is only marginally effective in deodorizing the odorous gases. If the odorous gases are to be exhausted to the exterior of the building, a separate exhaust duct must be constructed into the building, since such external suction blower systems are typically not connectable directly to the sewer pipe without major modifications to the toilet.
There is a need for an odorless toilet which does not require electricity to operate, and for a ventilation system to retrofit existing toilet designs and installed toilets for odor removal which requires no electricity to operate.
1. Advantages of the Invention
One of the advantages of the present invention is that it utilizes the same water source necessary to operate the toilet, capturing water flow energy which is normally wasted to eliminate odorous gases from the toilet.
Another advantage of the present invention is that no external or internal source of electricity is required, such as a wall socket or batteries, thus presenting no electrical shock hazard and not requiring periodic replacement of batteries.
A further advantage of the present invention is its adaptability to most standard toilet designs, being manufactured as an integral part of the toilet, or as a retrofit or add-on such as in the form of a kit for preexisting toilet designs and for toilets already installed.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is its ability to extract and store energy from the flow of water during flushing and refilling of the flush water tank, the energy being available for later use when the water flow has stopped after the tank has refilled.
Another advantage of the present invention is its ability to capture odorous gases before they exit the toilet to disperse into the air in the bathroom.
A further advantage of the present invention is the elimination of exhausting a large volume of heated or air conditioned air from the bathroom during use.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the elimination of the need to cut holes in walls and ceiling for installing an exhaust fan, wall switches, and the associated electrical wiring.
These and other advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification, claims, and abstract.
2. Brief Description of the Invention
The present invention comprises a ventilation system for removing odors from a water closet or toilet, and a self-contained venting toilet which incorporates the ventilation system. The toilet is of the type having a water supply tank, and a bowl with a hollow flush ring manifold adjacent the top of the bowl. The flush ring manifold includes an inlet opening and a plurality of flushing water discharge openings facing inwardly into the bowl. A flushing conduit connects the bowl to the tank. A discharge conduit connects the bowl with a siphon outlet which connects to a sewage waste drain. The discharge conduit includes an odor trap to prevent odors from passing from the sewage waste drain back to the bowl. A water control mechanism controls the supply of water under pressure from an external water supply pipe and the level of flushing water within the tank. A flushing mechanism includes a valve controlled outlet to the flushing conduit and the flushing ring manifold, adapted to discharge the water contained in the tank into the bowl. A seat pivotally is mounted on the bowl for movement between a horizontal position over the bowl and an elevated substantially vertical position at the rear of said bowl and adjacent the tank.
The ventilation system is adapted to exhaust gases and odors from within the bowl to the siphon outlet and into the sewage waste drain. The ventilation system includes an exhaust conduit communicating between the bowl and the siphon outlet. A blower assembly is operatively connected to and powered by the supply of water from the external water supply pipe when the water control mechanism is allowing the flow of water under pressure from the external water supply pipe to refill the level of flushing water within the tank. The. blower assembly is interposed along the exhaust conduit to induce a flow of air within the exhaust conduit toward the siphon outlet and into the sewage waste drain.
A preferred version of the ventilation system includes a fluid motor which is connected to the water supply pipe to extract kinetic energy taken from the flushing water flowing through the water supply pipe when the water control mechanism is allowing the flow of water under pressure from the external water supply pipe to refill the level of flushing water within the tank. The fluid motor is operatively connected to an energy storage device to supply kinetic energy to the energy storage device while tank of the toilet is being refilled following flushing. The kinetic energy is stored as potential energy by one or more spiral clock springs in the energy storage device, which is operatively connected to power the fan of the blower assembly through a gear box. The energy storage device includes a release mechanism which locks the releasing of the stored potential energy until release thereof is desired. The release mechanism can be operatively connected to the flushing mechanism for actuation when the flushing mechanism is actuated, or the release mechanism can be actuated by a lever accessible externally of the toilet, but separately from the flushing mechanism. This allows operation of the ventilation system even when flushing water is not flowing through the water supply pipe following flushing of the toilet by utilizing the stored potential energy within the energy storage device. A one-way valve is interposed along the exhaust conduit to prevent the flow of air within said exhaust conduit away from the siphon outlet and back into the bowl.
The preferred version of the ventilation system is incorporated into a preferred version of the self contained venting toilet, the toilet having a pair of elongate intake manifolds integral with and adjacent the top of the bowl. The intake manifolds extend at opposite sides of the bowl around at least a portion of the periphery of the bowl, the intake manifolds each having a plurality of intake holes along the length thereof. The exhaust conduit communicates with the bowl through the intake manifolds.
The above description sets forth, rather broadly, the more important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the preferred embodiment that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.